SECRETING ORGANS.
Those vessels of the body which draw off certain portions of the blood
and change it into a new form, to be employed for service or to be
thrown out of the body, are called _secreting organs_. The skin in this
sense is a secreting organ, as its perspiration-tubes secrete or
separate the bad portions of the blood, and send them off.
Of the internal secreting organs, the _liver_ is the largest. Its chief
office is to secrete from the blood all matter not properly supplied
with oxygen. For this purpose, a set of veins carries the blood of all
the lower intestines to the liver, where the imperfectly oxidized matter
is drawn off in the form of _bile_, and accumulated in a reservoir
called the _gall-bladder_. Thence it passes to the place where the
smaller intestines receive the food from the stomach, and there it mixes
with this food. Then it passes through the long intestines, and is
thrown out of the body through the rectum. This shows how it is, that
want of pure and cool air and exercise causes excess of bile, from lack
of oxygen. The liver also has arterial blood sent to nourish it, and
corresponding veins to return this blood to the heart.
Pages:
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218